Best You Got
by looking for mermaids
Summary: What they got isn't perfect but it's it's the best each other has. Full Summary Inside.
1. Positive Reinforcement

**Title: **Positive Reinforcement

**Summary: **They say the best way to train a dog is to give it what it wants.

**Rating: **T for Teens

**Disclaimer: **Do you think if I owned Naruto, this would be on fanfiction? The way to train a dog is also not mine. I took it from a website. If you want a link to it I'll have to find it but I will but…do you really need the website I took dog training advice from?

**A/N: **Will be a series of one-shots I make with KibaxOC. Will go from pre-relationship to established relationship so don't expect consistency. All these one shots will probably have nothing to do with each other so you can pick and choose which chapter you want to read first without having to read previous chapters. Will be marked as complete but will be adding more chapters as the ideas come. This chapter will be an established relationship one-shot. Mentions of other OCs.

* * *

The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.

Thomas Jefferson

* * *

There were a lot of things that Kiba did that pissed Kai off. Firstly, the stupid rivalry between him and Naruto always set her off. Kai could swear he spent more time training to beat Naruto than being with her! Second was the way he slobbered all over her when they kissed. When they make out tongue would be warm against her - teasing and heated – but that guy can pack a drool. Third Kai never had any peace when she was with Kiba. Kiba could keep a conversation for hours at a time; often times even with himself.

There were a lot of things that Kiba did that made Kai angry. Even some stuff Kiba _didn't_ do made Kai angry. _Boys._

* * *

"Miss, do you need any help?" Kai's arms burned and her back ached; in she wasn't a ninja and had no pride whatsoever she might have had enough sense to take it.

"No, I'm fine," She grunted, flashing a reassuring smile to the pleasant man who asked to help carry her groceries. The bags she had them in were nearly breaking and two seconds from probably falling all over the place but she was supposed to be the taijustsu master of her team and she wasn't going to sink low enough for someone to help her take home some _groceries_. Even if she wasn't good at taijutsu – she was a kunoichi after all. She had to have some pride in herself; she was supposed to carry herself in a different way. A stronger way – what would the villagers think of ninjas if they needed help with the simple task of carrying stuff?

With a pack of groceries, Kai made her way back home. She shifted her groceries between her arms trying to make herself more comfortable from the burning sensation of the strain. Passing by a small shop her eyes wandered the magazine area, reading the headlines. Kai scoffed at it all – all so dumb, so unimportant. How could people buy into this stuff? Didn't anyone see how irrelevant this stuff was?

Putting down her groceries she flipped through some of them. In a few weeks a federal princess was going to get married; a set of high-end actors and actresses getting picked for a big box office film; the latest and most effective diet. Who cared?

Determination and jealousy glowed in her eyes – she deserved to be on the cover of one of these magazines! With dusky eyes and tan skin and long black hair, with a lithe and pear shaped body she could easily pass as one of these models. She could see it in her mind already! The headline could be: EXCLUSIVE! Konoha's Strongest and Most Beautiful Kunoichi Unleashed! Interview Inside!

In fact just last week her and her team went on a mission protecting a rich merchant travelling from here to Suna. She could say how she saved them all from utter ruin when a pack of Sound Ninja came in and attacked them. Her moment was glorious and she was thanked profusely.

Flipping through the magazine she sighed heavily. Who was she kidding? She didn't look like anything like the girls in the pictures. Kai's skin wasn't smooth like theirs but roughed and callused over the years of harsh training and instead of a beautiful skinny Kai was lanky. Ok and maybe it wasn't just her that saved the merchant from doom but her team as well, and maybe it wasn't a group of sound ninja instead was just two.

"Hey," The store manager barked at her. "If you're not going to buy, you can't look!"

"Yeah, yeah," Kai rolled her eyes and threw the magazine pack in the stand. "I gotcha!"

"Damn ninjas," The managers whispered harshly under his breathe. "Thinking they're entitled to everything just because of their rank."

Kai turned to glare when her eyes spotted a small book inside the store. _How to Successfully Train Your Dog. _Kai gulped nervously; should she? She shook her head quickly. What was she thinking? She couldn't! Kiba was her boyfriend, not her dog, not her plaything! Just because he acted like one, doesn't mean-

"Hey, you!" The manager yelled again, swatting at her with his newspaper. "I said scram!"

"I'm buying something, I'm buying something," Kai sneered, getting the small blue book and paying for it. "Geez Grandpa no need to be so cranky. Miss your twelve o'clock nap or something?"

Before he could reply Kai was off.

* * *

A week later Kai still hadn't opened the book. The small blue book lay on her desk collecting dusk as she had refused to open it. She thought about returning it but every time she passed the little shop the old man there would be there, sneering at her from a distance. When she would walk by with Kiba a ping of guilt would touch at her as she sneered at him back over Kiba's shoulder.

Lost in thought during a joint training sensation between her Team and Team 8 she didn't notice when it was her turn to attack. Her team – Team 9 – specialized in infiltration and elimination and their whole dynamic required them all to work together cohesively. One false move and –

"_Gatsūga!" _Suddenlyshe was on the ground with Kiba on top her looking down at her questionably. Akumaru barked a few times and licked her cheek, making sure she was ok. Her team groaned loudly.

"Good job, Kai," Her teammate Rin said sarcastically. "Another loss against Team 8. Another one and we can qualify for a trophy."

"That would be counterproductive as two weeks ago you had beaten us at sparing quite like this scenario," Shino commented starkly.

Kai didn't have to justify herself as Kiba gave her a big, wet kiss.

* * *

Kai spent the entire night reading the small, blue book in one fell swoop. Once informed, all she needed was to piece it together and plan it. Not everything in the book could easily be translated to train a human – much less a guy – but Kai was determined not to get slobbered on again.

What Kai took from the book was as soon as your dog performs the desired behavior, reward him immediately with a treat and verbal praise. Keep training sessions short and fun. You want your dog to associate good things with obeying your commands. Gradually back off the treats and use them only intermittently once your dog has learned a new behavior. Eventually they'll no longer be necessary. Continue to use positive reinforcement to maintain the behaviors you desire.

The plan was easy and fool proof. What Kai didn't predict was _her_ foolishness.

* * *

Training a human was a lot harder than training a dog that was for sure. Especially with a human you were particularly very fond of. Kai could even say she had fallen in – No! She couldn't think of that now! She was on a mission – and Kai never failed on missions.

In a matter of a month she was sure the thing had worked. Only when Kiba had retracted his drool would she react to his kisses and eventually the drool stopped all together. Whenever he complained about Naruto she would simply nod along until eventually that stopped as well. Little did she know that stopped _all_ conversation as well. His responses were short and simple, telling the bare minimum of what she had asked. It was the drool-less, quiet Kai wanted all along.

It was gut wrenching.

"So," Kai began one day on their way to a ramen stand. "How was your day?"

On Akumaru, Kiba shrugged looking at the sky, "It was good. I trained with Shino and Hinata again."

"Oh yeah?" Kai breathed, kicking a stone on the middle of the road. "Did you see Naruto? He was training with Kakashi-sensei today."

"Oh yeah?" Kiba asked, an annoyed look on his face appeared. Kai's heart skipped a beat; maybe he would say something… "No, I didn't see him. That's nice he's training."

A moment of silence appeared like a dark cloud. Dammit, why did Kai have to go and get herself into this situation! Losing control of herself and wanting to unravel the past month of her mistake she screamed, "Yes! Yes it's good so he can finally can catch up to you, right?"

Kiba's eyes widened looking at her, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry," Kai's voice cracked. Jumping off Akumaru Kiba placed his arms on her shoulder, looking at her worriedly. "I'm the one who did this too you. I'm so sorry I've acted so indifferent this month. I-it was just so annoying what you were doing, but I never knew it would be more annoying that you weren't doing it! There was just this book, and the nasty old man, and the swatting and I was felt so guilty and then mad-"

"Wait, wait," Kiba softly shook her, looking at her confused. "Slow down. What old man?"

Explaining everything from grocery shopping all that time ago to now, Kai was nearly hypervenulating when she was over. Kiba looked at her shocked, "You… bought a dog training book… to train _me_?"

Kai nodded softly. Kiba laughed at her, "And here I thought you were on your period. You could have just told me."

Kai's face grew red. "Yeah, sorry."

Kiba softly kissed her cleanly, making that the end of it. Frowning into it Kai slavered all over him. With a laugh the rest of the night went easily. Kiba talked about how he was going to train harder to keep up to Naruto and talked more about his training with Kai smiling and completely listening to him. He wasn't perfect but Kai was totally in love with him. Her face grew red once again.

After all that who knew he had _her _positively reinforced?


	2. Distance

**Title: **Distance

**Summary: **Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

**Rating: **T for Teens

**Disclaimer: **Do you think if I owned Naruto, this would be on fanfiction?

**A/N: **Totally not related to the last chapter. Mentions of OCxShino and other OC's.

* * *

"It's so nice

to wake up in the morning

all alone

and not have to tell somebody

you love them

when you don't love them

any more."

Richard Brautigan

* * *

Growing up certainly wasn't easy and the more you retained things the more things you forgot.

Kai tended to see life in segments centered around Kiba. Presently, she tried not to but it was hard after doing it for so long. At age six they are confused and just meet. At age ten they are learning and best friends. At age sixteen they are cocky and just dating. At age twenty they are on top and blissfully in love. At age twenty-four they are strong and complete - and very, very busy.

Freshly promoted both Kiba and Kai were both required to train a genin team of three. Both of them smiled fondly thinking of the time _they_ had been genin and put into their respective teams.

If Keijō Kai were anything it would be determined. While she loved teaching and training her team (though they could be a real pain in the ass some times) she had other plans for herself. Bigger plans, better plans! No way Kai would allow herself to be a jounin forever and neither would Kiba. When they weren't training genin they were training themselves.

Seeing him walk out the door one day Kai followed behind them, "Hey, where are you going?"

Kiba turned around suddenly making Kai stumble back a bit. Kiba smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, "Sorry about that. I thought I reminded you I'm training with Hinata and Shino today- Oh, shit! I'm sorry I totally forgot!"

Tonight was the night they were supposed to hang out with each other. Kai uncharacteristically fidgeted her fingers, "Oh, no. It's ok, there's always next time. I-I forgot too! I probably have to train tonight as well, it's been so long since I did!"

Kiba looked at her sadly, "I can cancel if you want, it's just that both of them have been so busy too-"

Kai shook her head hurriedly, "No, it's fine! I totally get it. Maybe tomorrow and next time we can train together instead."

His face brightened, "Yeah, totally."

Grabbing her by the shoulders he pulled in to hug her. Kissing both her cheeks he waved goodbye and left. Akumaru barked twice before leaving as well, leaving her alone in the house. Kai sighed to herself sadly, that was the first time she lied to Kiba. She had trained just that morning, leaving her schedule completely open for tonight.

Stepping out of their small, shared apartment, Kai straightened her shirt and made her way into town. Kai stumbled around the village like a zombie, looking at everything but not really taking anything in. Falling over Kai quickly apologized to whomever she bumped into. Looking up she saw her teammates Rin and Tatsuo smiling down at her.

Pulling her up Tatsuo laughed, "Are you ok? You seem totally space out."

Kai blinked really looking at her teammates. Twelve years they had been teammates and it felt like nothing – Kai couldn't believe it, _twelve years_ since they were simple genin. Tatsuo, who was a scared, crybaby who didn't know the definition of a shampoo was now a slick, well-toned, loyal jounin. Rin, who was a ponytailed angry avoider, was now a short haired, calm jounin as well. Had she changed at all? She was a jounin now too but she didn't feel like it. Maybe she was, she had different priorities now and was less prideful than she was back then but thinking about it made her shiver. She felt like she was an outsider to her own life.

"Kai, Kai," Rin snapped at her. "I think you're right Tatsuo, she's totally out of it."

Kai snapped back to reality, "No, I'm listening. What were you saying?"

Rin rolled her eyes and Tatsuo smiled unaffectedly but not without sympathy, "The wedding. Remember? My wedding that's happening in a _month_."

Oh, yeah. "You mean the one I'm not the Maid of Honor for?"

Rin huffed, "I asked you, remember? But you were assigned a month long mission at that time. Since Hinata's already gotten married so she already now what to do."

"Yeah, yeah. Everyone has excuses," Kai waved off, but really she wasn't that offended. Honestly, she wanted nothing to do with the wedding; the whole ceremony of it put her off. It wasn't Rin or her new found fiancé, it was just weddings in general. It wasn't as if Kai wasn't happy for them but how could they be sure that they were the ones for each other? It seemed all her friends and people she knew from the academy were doing it – they were only 24! But then again, Kai sighed, we don't exactly have a job that ensures we have enough time to go through an extensive search of the one they wanted to be with forever.

The thought made her want to punch herself. She loved Kiba, shouldn't she _want_ to spend her life with him? What was all this nonsense of _time_ and _choosing_…. she had already chose.

Watching Rin, Kai felt a ping of jealousy. The girl was practically glowing talking about the ceremony and how their life would be together. _Their life._

It seemed now for her it was her life and Kiba's life and the stuff in between. They were both so busy doing other stuff they had forgotten about each other. It's not that they didn't try, but it was just so hard fitting each other in nowadays. Maybe Kai did change more than she thought. As she and Kiba had less and less to talk about the more time they spent with other people. Kiba trained more and Kai had more missions.

Kai was lonely but she was too afraid to talk about it to the man she loved but no longer knew.

* * *

"And then Hinata appears behind him and says 'Try me, asshole!' and hits him square in the heart," Kiba explained exuberantly trying to explain their inside joke to Kai. _How could this have happened?_

"K-Kiba-kun!" Hinata blushed. "I didn't say that!"

Kiba scratched behind his ear, "Well, it was something like that. But listen, that's when his friend came along and tried to get to Hinata before she could react and that's when I-"

Kiba continued to talk about his mission and Kai was just thinking about her mission coming up.

* * *

It was rare if they to wake up to each other, especially now. But every now and they it would be gifted with this simple miracle. Kai woke up first to see him peacefully sleeping. He was a bit tanner from all the missions and a bit more built. His hair got thicker and his face was more defined. Tears welled up as a sudden realization dawned upon her. She no longer knew the man she loved but she wanted too. He was different but he was still Kiba. Her Kiba. Never could Kai imagine waking up to another face.

The distance between them was more than just physical but nothing reaching out couldn't fix. Slowly closing the distance Kai wrapped her long fingers around his hand and slowly brought it to her face to kiss the inside of his wrist.

He shifted and slowly opened his eyes. He smiled at her through lidded, sleepy eyes. He groggily whispered, "That's one way to wake up."

Normally she would have told him to shut up but never again. She never wanted him to shut up. His voice was husky and deep from the sleep but she had never heard such a beautiful sound. "Talk to me."

"Hmm?"

"Tell me a story, Kiba. About your missions, about the stories your Mom told you as a kid, how Hana is doing."

Grabbing the back of her head Kiba met her half way, weaving his fingers into her hair he closed the distance between them. With eyes closed they stayed like that for the rest of the day – reacquainting themselves with each other.

* * *

The day of the wedding Kai and Kiba stood united staring at their friends getting married. Kiba leaned, his hot breathe on her ear, "Imagine that your teammate and mine. Soon all our team will be joined in marriage."

Kai blushed, "Shh, Hinata's already married."

Kiba shrugged and winked at her. Turning away Kai focused her attention on the soon to be married couple Rin and Shino. "We should get going."

Being the maid of honor and best man Kiba and Kai made there way beside their respective teammates. From across each other they continued to share eye contact sharing looks as the priest said a few words about commitment and dependability, slowly rolling their eyes at the fancy and neat way both Rin and Shino signed their names on the marriage contract and nearly barfing at their vows. In spite of themselves they both thought it was a sweet ceremony.

With their hands linked the priest nodded and presented them as a newly married couple. Standing neither of them let go of the other. From his side Kiba whooped and howled as Kai clapped loudly as well. During dinner Rin leaned in and using her free hand as if to bloke the sound of her voice from the rest of the world she whispered, "So?"

Kai raised an eyebrow at her as Kai saw Shino slowly turn at the sudden tugging of his wife's hand. Not wanting everyone to suddenly take notice and hear Kai played innocent, "So what?"

Rin rolled eyes, "Do I have to spell it out for you or are you waiting for me to blatantly through the bouquet at you?"

Kai blushed furiously, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Looking over at Kiba, Kai couldn't help but smile. He was smiling hugely poking fun at his teammate for getting whipped into the marriage. Catching her staring Kiba flashed another huge smile and blew her a kiss. Rolling her eyes Kai caught Rin smirking. "Seems you guess are not to far back."

Kai shrugged and blushed at the thought, "Guess we're not that far at all."

And she wouldn't have it any other way.


	3. Alpha

**Title: ** Alpha

**Summary: **Dealing with family is hard.

**Rating: **T for Teens

**Disclaimer: **Do you think if I owned Naruto, this would be on fanfiction?

**A/N: **Totally not related to the last chapter. Thought it'd be a pretty funny idea. 

"The greatest battle is not physical but psychological. The demons telling us to give up when we push ourselves to the limit can never be silenced for good. They must always be answered by the quiet, steady dignity that refuses to give in. Courage. We all suffer. Keep going."

- GRAEME FIFE

Having come from nothing, the Inuzuka household seemed to have a cavern of riches – and not just materially. It is known throughout the whole of the Leaf that the Inuzukas are a family of passion. Quick to anger, to forgive; to hate and love. Always the first to fight or defend.

The initial announcement of their engagement didn't come as a shock to their comrades, but coming out to this to each their families was a bit harder – though more on her end than his.

Kiba was holding her as they walked down the hall of her old house – her Father's house – confident and reassuring. Her Father was engaged when he had her….with another woman. She eventually died on a mission when Kai was young, so under Konoha law she was sent to live with her Father. It wasn't a bad life; Kai had food, clothes on her back, and friends who loved her but when she made enough money as a ninja she moved out. That was the major reason she even went to the Academy, because no other school would allow her to get a job after graduation and so young too.

"We're here," Kiba's deep voice tugged at her thoughts. Kai already dreaded the meeting but she knew it was required. Knocking the door, no one answered. _Just great._

Either her father forgot about their plans today or she was simply being ignored. Knocking again she called, "Dad? Dad!"

The word tasted weird on her lips, like something distant and detached. Squeezing her hand, Kai smiled sheepishly at Kiba. "Sorry, maybe he's not here. He probably forgot. I don't even think we need his permission, I can always just get-"

"I'm here, I'm here," Keijo Makio opened the door sluggishly. He seemed to glare at the light as though he just woke up or got done with something strenuous. In fact, if you asked Kai she could have sworn she saw a body bump in his bed and Kai was sure after she was born his marriage ran cold though they never separated.

Kai swallowed the prospect of having an indifferent marriage. Looking at Kiba though she was sure that would never happen. Even if she would one day separate with Kiba and hate him, she would never feel nothing for him.

"Did you bring the contract?" Makio asked crossly, holding his hand out. Makio was a short and stocky man like a tree stump, so unlike Kai's tall and willowy form though they shared the same wild black hair and sun licked skin. If they had shared any more traits Kai would have gone mad.

"Yeah," Kai whispered disgruntled at her Fathers impatience. Contracts weren't anything big, well not in Kiba's family they weren't and Kai was sure it wasn't in her family either. Nothing really mattered in Kai's family anyway. The contract was merely custom explaining to each family what would happen to them if one member of the marriage couple died or got sick, where they would stay, etc..

"Don't you want to read it first, Grandpa?" Kiba sneered looking as Makio sloppily signed his name on the contract.

"Fool," Makio whispered under his breathe. "I've been married before, I know what it says! And I'm not old enough to be your Grandpa, you mutt!"

Kai glared at her Father, "Says the man who has a tramp in his bed."

His fingers clenched the pen he was using and looked up at her to say something. Having nothing useful to add, Kai grabbed the scroll and managed to drag Kiba off the residence before her Father could tell her off. "I'm surprised you didn't say anything after that."

"I can't believe you said that to your Dad!" Kiba's smirk was wide and eyes mischievous, "And what? I can be mature."

Raising an eyebrow Kai smiled, "_Mature_? Come on! Now I know something's up!"

"Nothing's up," Kiba defended sparing her a look before walking slightly in front of her. Tilting her head Kai watched as he smirked back at her, "But something is on the scroll."

"Hmmm?" Kai asked taking it out.

"If he had read it he would have realized that you would be representing yourself for our wedding when you become an official Inuzuka," Kiba barked out a loud laugh. "And he thinks I'm an idiot!"

Representing herself? "That means that…?"

"They get absolutely nothing from this marriage," Kiba snorted and mockingly said. "I've been married once, I know what it says."

With trembling hands Kai read through the contract, seeing the proof for herself with Kiba's hearty laughter in the background.

* * *

Kai was sure she was if she wasn't dying right now of embarrassment she would of heart palpitations in a minute.

In a sea of Inuzukas only she, Kiba, Hana and Tsume were standing up. Kiba coughed trying to ease the tension, "Mom I thought we went over this – we weren't doing this. I didn't even tell her!"

Tsume glared at her son, "We did but you heard your family! They need to know she'd be able to stay in the head family."

An _aha_ moment flashed in Kai's head. Kiba's family were the head of his clan not necessarily because of lineage but because they were strong enough to lead the rest of the family. Any sign of weakness and the other members of the clan wouldn't hesitate to try to use that against them.

Hovering protectively, Kiba matched his Moms glare. "You should know how strong she is."

His Moms glare softened in sympathy before being replaced once again with hard determination and whispered, "I do, trust me Kiba – I do."

Before anything else could be done, Tsume came at her. With her hand lifted to punch her in the cheek Tsume called, "This isn't anything personal, just a family business."

His Mother was the head of the clan so obviously she was one of the strongest, so being able to fight with her would be validation enough with his family. With that said Kai didn't want to fight her future mother-in-law! From the corner of her eye Kai could see Kiba about to spring into action, only to be held back by Hana.

Biting her lip and relying on her training, Kai dodged the blow.

"Kuromaru!"

_Shit_, Kai totally forgot about him at the huge gray and white dog appeared from behind her. Kai managed to duck out of the way quickly enough only to see Kuromaru and Tsume together doing the Four Leg Technique. Energy glowed around the powerful duo as they came at her again.

For a few minutes they danced as Kai continued to act on the defensive, blocking and dodging most of Tsume's attacks. Sweating Tsume smirked, "You're quick on you're feet."

"You're not to shabby yourself," Kai said, swatting sweat from her forehead. Looking around at the Inuzukas loud cheers and protests for the fight to continue Kai added, "For an old woman."

Tsume suddenly sneered as the Inuzukas broke into a laughter. "Oh, yeah? Why not try going on the offensive!"

Flexing her arms above her head to bloke another one of Tsume's attacks, Kai pushed her off and did just that. Just as good as she was at offensive Tsume had a good defense as well. With a series of kicks and punches Kai knew she had to pull something out and quickly.

From the corner of her eye she could see Kiba looking at her in awe and Hana with pride. She would make them pay later for not telling her but now Kai had bigger fish to fry…. Or dog.

Proving herself to be a capable enough fighter to enter the Inuzuka Clan was harder than she thought as Tsume's defenses were relentless. Suddenly jumping up and with Kuromaru jumping down under her legs they managed to pin Kai against the ground. Knowing she wouldn't be able to win she decided to play dirty. Twisting her leg up she kicked Tsume in the private area and whileit just managed to surprise her it gave Kai enough time to escape and attack again.

_BOOM!_

Kai looked up to see Hana between her and Tsume, grabbing each their hand. "That's enough."

Smiling at Kai Hana explained, "I think this proves you are worthy. We don't want you guys killing each other before the wedding."

A multitude of whoops and cheers went across the Inuzuka Clan as Tsume stood up and held her hand to Kai, "You sure are an asshole. Welcome to the Inuzuka Clan."

Gripping her hand Kai nodded glad she didn't offend Tsume. Running over Kiba smiled sheepishly, "Look I didn't know that would happen. I just-"

"I forgive you." Kai looked down but then glared at Kiba. "But if something like this happens again it wont be Tsume I'll be fighting."

"Hey, they say the art of war and loving making are one in the same so I think we'll be fine," Kiba laughed.

Turning bright red, Kai punched Kiba in the stomach. Coughing Kiba apologized, "Just kidding, just kidding."


End file.
